It’s Time To Be Honest About Obesity
To justify obesity (a clinical term), liberals mask the condition as “body positivity” or reframe it as “healthy — at any size.” The left has even gone so far as calling obesity an “offensive fat slur.” Call it big-boned, plus-sized or pleasantly plump — but no matter what you call it, it isn’t a healthy way to live.
That’s right, according to basically every medical journal, the CDC, and even the far-left New York Times, obesity is the leading cause of death in America, costing the health care system $1.72 trillion. A study from the peer-reviewed academic journal, Population Studies, in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder, found that obesity significantly raises risk of death by 22-91%. This is far worse than originally imagined. Conversely, the risk of death from being underweight is far less significant.
Here comes the hypocrisy. Why are people allowed to shame those who are thin without recourse? “Eat a cheeseburger!” is a common, accepted phrase. But, if one said, “Lay off the cheeseburgers!” to an overweight person, they would be vilified. The underweight and overweight persons both likely deal with a disorder or difficulty when trying to eat the correct amount or type of food.
Regardless, we now live in a social justice society where victims get credit for being “oppressed,” therefore we must accept that overweight is normal and “healthy.” We must accept that this is what fitness looks like in 2023 and if we don’t, we are labeled “fat-phobic,” sexist, and racist.
Although body positivity started as a necessary pendulum swing from unhealthy, dangerously underweight, and over sexualized models of the 90’s, who likely encouraged the social contagion aspect of eating disorders — the swing simply went too far.
We went from “fit is fabulous” to “fat is fit” with neck-breaking speed. Now, there are very little socially acceptable questions regarding BMI, diet, or exercise. Encouraging a person who is overweight to exercise, eat less or better foods, is now considered fat shaming, and can be considered harassment.
Many doctors have moved on from that traditional advice and more often recommend surgeries and medications to manage weight. Like TPUSA’s Morgan Zegers explains “it would be career suicide to simply tell an obese patient that losing weight is first and foremost a choice and a commitment. Besides, weight loss medications are big money-makers, so why not tell your patients to eat whatever and whenever their ‘body tells them to.’”
The unfortunate truth, which especially applies to women, is that the leading cause of death in America is heart disease. Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease. Society attempts to glamorize and de-stigmatize obesity and similar unhealthy lifestyles despite the deadly threat these serious health conditions pose.
